DURHAM, N.C. — For most of the last month, No. 1 Duke has looked more like a boulder rolling downhill than a basketball team. It’s looked, really, every bit like a juggernaut capable of winning the program’s illustrious sixth national championship.
Or, at least it did when it was whole.
And while the Blue Devils still emerged victorious in their regular-season finale — a 76-61 win over rival North Carolina — that result came at a sizable cost. Starting point guard Caleb Foster, one of the team’s few reliable veterans, suffered a right foot injury with just under five minutes left in the first half and did not return to the game.
In fact, when he did finally reemerge out of Duke’s tunnel midway through the second half, he did so with a walking boot on that foot.
And if that wasn’t enough of a gut punch for Jon Scheyer’s team, starting center Patrick Ngongba also sat out the game … with a walking boot on his right foot, too.
So while, yes, Duke fans will look back fondly on Saturday’s result — as revenge for these teams’ first meeting this season, when UNC won on a buzzer-beating 3 after trailing for 39 minutes, 59 seconds — it’s impossible for that sentiment not to be colored by two potentially monstrous losses.
Now, that’s not to say that the Blue Devils — who ultimately pulled away thanks to another sensational performance from star freshman Cameron Boozer, who finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds and five assists — cannot still make a deep run in March. Look no further than Saturday’s second half, with Foster and Ngongba tied to the pine, as proof. Despite a few early second-half 3s from the Tar Heels, which made it a one-point score, Scheyer’s squad ultimately rattled off a 16-0 run minutes later to crack the game open.
The Blue Devils are likely locks for a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed. (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
Minutes later, that had ballooned to a 24-2 run, with UNC completely buried — like most of Duke’s foes the last month — by the Blue Devils’ length and defensive fortitude.
Case in point: Duke entered Saturday ranked fourth nationally in “killshot” runs of at least 10 consecutive points with 33, per CBB Analytics, and nearly had two back to back against the No. 17 team in America. (Admittedly, North Carolina was also without its best player, star freshman forward Caleb Wilson, who suffered a season-ending broken right thumb injury while dunking in practice Thursday.)
Even without Foster and Ngongba, the Blue Devils dominated UNC in nearly every swing category, including points off turnovers (24 to 4), offensive rebounds (18 to five) and second-chance points (14 to 4). Despite 17 points and five 3s from freshman guard Derek Dixon, the Wilson-less Tar Heels simply didn’t have nearly enough depth or scoring punch against the nation’s most efficient defense.
Put it together, and you wind up with the last few minutes as an unofficial coronation for a team that had already locked up the outright ACC regular-season title — for the second straight year — and a likely No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
But now Duke and Scheyer must hope that Saturday’s injury woes are just a bump in the road of a potentially special season — and not something that sinks the Blue Devils’ chances of making the Final Four in Indianapolis next month.
Because when healthy, clearly, Duke is capable of winning the whole damn thing.